Color correction overview

Photoshop Elements Editor provides several tools and commands for fixing the tonal range, color, and sharpness in your photos, and for removing dust spots or other defects. You can work in one of three modes, depending on your experience and needs.

Quick

If you have limited knowledge of digital imaging, Quick mode is a good place to start fixing photos. It has many of the basic tools for correcting color and lighting.

Guided

If you are new to digital imaging and Photoshop Elements Editor, you can use Guided Edit to guide you through the color correction task. This is also a good way to increase your understanding of the workflow.

Expert

If you’ve worked with images before, you’ll find that the Expert mode provides the most flexible and powerful image-correction environment. It has the lighting and color-correction commands, along with tools for fixing image defects, making selections, adding text, and painting on your images.

When working with some of the adjustment commands, you can make adjustments directly to the image pixels. Or you can use adjustment layers to make nondestructive adjustments that you can easily tweak until your image is right. In this mode, the Smart Brush tool and Detail Smart Brush tool automatically create an adjustment layer for the correction you’re applying. See Apply the Smart Brush tools.

Camera Raw

If you shoot digital images in your camera’s raw format, you can open and correct raw files in the Camera Raw dialog box. Because your camera has not yet processed the raw files, you can adjust the color and exposure to improve the images. Often you may not need to make other adjustments in Photoshop Elements. To open camera raw files in Photoshop Elements Editor, first save them in a supported file format.

Correct color in Quick mode

The Quick mode conveniently groups many of the basic photo-fixing tools in Photoshop Elements Editor. As you work in Quick mode, limit the number of color and lighting controls that you apply to a photo. Generally, you use only one of the auto controls on a photo. If that control doesn’t achieve what you want, click the Reset and try another one. You can also adjust your image using the slider controls, whether you’ve used an auto control or not. Perform the Sharpening fix last on an image.

Using the Auto Lighten Shadows adjustment in Quick mode to
instantly fix the photo

Do one of the following:

With a photo open, click Quick.

Any photos that you have stored in the Photo Bin are accessible while you are in Quick mode.

(Optional) Set preview options by making a selection from the menu (located in the bar above the image that is open). You can set the preview to show how the photo looks before and after you make a fix, or to show both previews side by side (horizontally or vertically).

(Optional) Use the tools in the toolbox to zoom, move, and crop the image. You can also make a selection, fix red eye, whiten teeth, and add text to the image.

To rotate the image in 90° increments in the counterclockwise direction (rotate left), click the Rotate button in the taskbar. To rotate the image in the clockwise direction, click the arrow next to the Rotate button, and then click the rotate right button.

Select one of the image fixing controls (for example, Levels, Color, Contrast). If a control has additional options (for example, the Color control contains the Saturation, Hue and Vibrance tabs), select the corresponding tab to fix that aspect of the image.

To apply a fix, do one of the following:

Make the necessary adjustment using the sliders, and preview the adjustment on the photo, or enter a value in the text box next to the sliders.

Hover the mouse over the thumbnails to preview the adjustment on the photo. Click the thumbnail to apply the adjustment on the image temporarily.

Fine-tune a picture using a preview as the starting point, click and hold the mouse button on a preview thumbnail, and then drag right or left.

Note: When you apply fixes in a sequence, all previous fixes are automatically applied as soon as you move to a new control. For example, if you move from the Balance control to the Exposure control, any changes you performed in the Balance control are automatically applied.

To undo a fix or reset the picture, do the following:

To cancel the fix applied while still in the same control, press Ctrl + Z, or, in the menu bar, click Edit > Undo.

Note: If you have performed a sequence of fixes (for example, Exposure, Balance, and Contrast, it is not possible to undo changes performed in the step where the Balance was fixed. You can undo only the control that you are currently in.

To cancel all fixes applied to picture, click Reset. The picture is restored to the state it was in at the beginning of the current editing session.

Quick mode tools

To fine-tune a picture using a preview as the starting point, click and hold the mouse button, and then drag right or left.

Adjusts the overall picture brightness. Use this control to ensure that the image you are viewing is of the desired brightness.

Contrast

Adjusts the overall contrast of an image, and sometimes affects its color. If your image needs more contrast and it has a color cast, you can use the following two options:

Auto Levels and Auto Contrast

The Auto Levels and Auto Contrast options work by individually mapping the lightest and darkest pixels in each color channel to monochrome. To apply the settings, click the Auto button beside any of these options. (See About Levels adjustments or The Adjust Levels Guided Edit.)

Shadows

Drag the slider to lighten the darkest areas of your photo without affecting the highlights. Pure black areas are not affected.

Midtones

Adjusts the contrast within the middle tonal values (values that are about half way between pure white and pure black). It does not affect the extreme highlights and shadows.

Highlights

Drag the slider to darken the lightest areas of your photo without affecting the shadows. Pure white areas are not affected.

Color

Adjusts the color by identifying shadows, midtones, and highlights in the image rather than in individual color channels. It neutralizes the midtones, and clips the white and black pixels using a default set of values. Click the Auto button to apply this command.

Saturation

Drag the slider to make colors more vivid or more muted, or choose the preview thumbnail that best suits your requirement.

Hue

Shifts all colors in an image. This control is best used in small amounts or with selected objects whose color you want to change.

Vibrance

Causes lower saturated colors to turn vivid, without allowing clipping to occur for the higher-saturation colors. This control enables you to vary skin tones without becoming oversaturated.

Balance

Adjusts the color balance of an image without affecting its contrast.

Temperature

Drag the slider to make the colors warmer (red) or cooler (blue). Use this control to enhance sunsets or skin tones, or when the color balance set by your camera is off.

Tint

Drag the slider to make the color more green or more magenta. Use this control to fine-tune the colors after using the Temperature control.

Sharpen

Adjusts the sharpness of your image. Click Auto to use the default amount of sharpening.

Sharpen

Drag the slider to vary the amount of sharpening. Zoom your preview at 100% to get a more accurate view of the amount of sharpening you are trying to apply.

Fix photos with touch up buttons

The touch up buttons are available in Quick mode, in the Modify panel. These buttons enable you to apply corrections and adjustments to selected parts of an image. The red eye removal tool, spot healing tool, and healing brush tool modify the same layer. The whiten teeth tool creates and works on a new adjustment layer. Also, the text tools create a new layer for edits. As a result, some tools do not permanently edit information on the image layer. You can always change adjustment settings without degrading the original image. The Whiten Teeth, Touch Up buttons apply adjustments found in the Smart Brush tool. See Adjust color and tonality using the Smart Brush tools and About adjustment and fill layers.

In the Quick mode, do any of the following:

Click the Red Eye Removal button to remove red eye from a photo. This tool removes red eye in flash photos of people. Drag the tool in the image around an eye you want to fix, or click the Auto button in the options bar. See Precisely remove red eye.

Click the Whiten Teeth button to apply a whiten teeth in an image. Drag in the image area with the teeth that you want to brighten.

(Optional) If you carried out Whiten Teeth adjustment, you can do any of the following:

Add the adjustment to more parts of the photo, by clicking the Add To Selection button, and dragging in the image.

Remove the adjustment from parts of the photo, by clicking the Subtract From Selection button, and dragging in the image.

Quick mode options

Zoom tool

Sets the magnification of the preview image. Controls and options work like the Zoom tool in the toolbox. (See Zoom in or out.)

Hand tool

Moves the image around in the preview window if the entire image is not visible. Press the spacebar to access the Hand tool when another tool is selected.

Removes part of an image. Drag the tool within the preview image to select the portion you want to keep, and then press Enter. (See Crop an image.)

Correcting color in Expert mode

If you’ve worked with images before, you’ll find that Photoshop Elements Editor provides the most flexible and powerful image-correction environment. It has lighting and color-correction commands, along with tools for fixing image defects, making selections, adding text, and painting on your images. When working with some of the adjustment commands, you can make adjustments directly on the image pixels. Or you can use adjustment layers to make nondestructive adjustments that you can easily tweak until your image is right. The Smart Brush tool and Detail Smart Brush tool automatically create an adjustment layer as you apply a correction. See Apply the Smart Brush tools or About adjustment and fill layers.

Expert mode

A. There are many tools for correcting problems and selecting
portions of a photo. B. The Photo Bin
lets you see which photos are open. C. The Panel
Bin holds panels that you use to transform and enhance photos.

As you work on your photos, perform the following tasks that apply to your image. Not all tasks are required for every image, but the following list is a recommended workflow:

Specify a color management
option.

Specify color management options.

View the image at 100%
and crop, if necessary.

Before making any color corrections, view the image at a zoom percentage of 100%. At 100%, Photoshop Elements Editor displays the image most accurately. You can also check for image defects, such as dust spots and scratches. If you plan to crop the file, do it now to reduce memory requirements and to ensure that the histogram uses only relevant information. Using the Zoom tool to zoom out may optimize the view before cropping an image, so that you crop a well-centered selection.

Check the scan quality
and tonal range.

Look at the image’s histogram to evaluate
whether the image has sufficient detail to produce high-quality
output.

Resize your image, if necessary.

Resize your image to the size that you need if you are going to use it in another application or project. If you are going to print it or use it in a Photoshop Elements Editor project, you generally don’t need to resize it. (See About image size and resolution.)

Adjust the highlights and
shadows.

Begin corrections by adjusting the values of the extreme highlight and shadow pixels in the image (also known as the tonal range). Setting an overall tonal range allows for the most detail possible throughout the image. This process is known as setting the highlight and shadow or setting the white and black points. (See About Levels adjustments or The Adjust Levels Guided Edit.)

Adjust the color balance.

After correcting the tonal range, you can adjust the image’s color balance to remove unwanted color casts or to correct oversaturated or muted colors. With some Photoshop Elements Editor auto commands, both the tonal range and color are corrected in one step. (See Adjust saturation and hue.)

Make other special color
adjustments.

Once you have corrected the overall color balance of your image, you can make optional adjustments to enhance colors. For example, you can increase the saturation to make the colors in your image more vivid.

As a final step, sharpen the clarity of edges
in the image. This process helps restore detail and sharpness that
tonal adjustments may reduce. (See Sharpening overview.)

Automatically correct lighting
and color

Photoshop Elements Editor provides several automatic lighting and color-correction commands in both Quick mode and Expert mode. The command you choose depends on the needs of your image.

You can experiment with each of the auto commands. If you don’t like the result of one, undo the command by choosing Edit > Undo, and try another command. You will rarely need to use more than one auto command to fix an image.

To adjust a specific image area, select it with
one of the selection tools. If no selection is made, the adjustment
applies to the entire image.

Adjusts the overall contrast of an image and may affect
its color. If your image needs more contrast, and it has a color
cast, try this command. Auto Levels works by individually mapping
the lightest and darkest pixels in each color channel to black and
white.

Auto Contrast

Adjusts the overall contrast of an image without affecting
its color. Use when your image needs more contrast, but the colors
look right. Auto Contrast maps the lightest and darkest pixels in
the image to white and black, which makes highlights appear lighter
and shadows appear darker.

Auto Color Correction

Adjusts the contrast and color by identifying shadows, midtones,
and highlights in the image, rather than in individual color channels.
It neutralizes the midtones and sets the white and black points
using a default set of values.

Auto Sharpen

Adjusts the sharpness of the image by clarifying the
edges and adding detail that tonal adjustments may reduce.

Auto Red Eye Fix

Automatically detects and repairs red eye in an image.

About histograms

You can use the histogram to analyze the image’s tonal distribution to see if you need to correct it. A histogram shows the distribution of an image’s pixel values in a bar chart. The left side of the chart shows the values of the image shadow (starting at level 0), and the right side shows the highlight (level 255). The vertical axis of the chart represents the total number of pixels within a given level.

You can view an image’s histogram in the Histogram panel (F9). Histograms are also available in the Levels dialog box and the Camera Raw dialog box. You can update the histogram as you work so that you can see how your adjustments are affecting the tonal range. When the Cached Data Warning icon appears, click it to refresh the histogram’s data.

If many pixels are bunched up at either the shadow or highlight ends of the chart, it may indicate that image detail in the shadows or highlights may be clipped - blocked up as pure black or pure white. There is little you can do to recover this type of image. If you are working with a scanned image, you can try rescanning to produce a better tonal range. If your digital camera can display an image histogram, check it to see whether your exposure is correct and make exposure adjustments if necessary. See your camera’s documentation for more information.

The histogram may show that an image is not using the full tonal range available if some pixels aren’t available in the shadows and highlights. You can fix an image with limited tonal range by stretching the tonal range using either the Levels command or one of the Enhance > Auto commands.

View a histogram

If the Histogram panel is not open in the Panel Bin, choose Window > Histogram.

Choose the source of the histogram’s display from the
Source menu:

Entire Image

Displays a histogram of the entire image, including all
layers in the multilayered document.

Selected Layer

Displays a histogram of the selected layer in the Layers panel.

Adjustment Composite

Displays a histogram of an adjustment layer selected in the Layers panel, including all the layers below the adjustment layer.

To view the histogram for a portion of your image, make
a selection in your image, and choose an option from the Channel
menu:

RGB

Displays a histogram that is a composite of individual
color channels placed on top of each other.

Red, Green, and Blue

Displays the histograms for the individual color channels.

Luminosity

Displays a histogram representing the luminance or intensity values
of the composite channel.

Colors

Displays the composite RGB histogram individually by
color. Red, green, and blue represent the pixels in those channels.
Cyan, magenta, and yellow represent where the histograms of two
channels overlap. Gray represents areas where all three color channel
histograms overlap.

Grayscale images have a single channel
option: Gray.

To view the following statistical information about a
range of values, drag in the histogram and hold down the mouse button
to highlight the range. To view information about a specific area
of the histogram, place the pointer over the area:

Mean

Represents the average intensity value.

Standard Deviation (Std Dev)

Represents how widely intensity values vary.

Median

Shows the middle value in the range of intensity values.

Pixels

Represents the total number of pixels used to calculate
the histogram.

Level

Displays the intensity level of the area underneath the
pointer.

Count

Shows the total number of pixels at the intensity level
underneath the pointer.

Percentile

Displays the percentage of pixels at and below the level
underneath the pointer. This value is expressed as a percentage
of all the pixels in the image, from 0% at the far left to 100%
at the far right.

Cache Level

Shows the setting for the image cache. If Use Cache For Histograms is selected in the Preferences dialog box, Photoshop Elements Editor displays histograms more quickly but less accurately. To display more accurate histograms, deselect this option.

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